Design Brief
I thought about opening a competition on our YouTube page to anyone for this project. However on reflection I decided I needed to be more focused and only engage professionals. I have decided on the price based on a number of factors and these are detailed below. The logo is for something most people know about and as such will be fairly prominent. So within this community it will hopefully be something people want to be part of. It is the additional points in this document that go beyond the primary requirements which will require thinking time and professional execution and are there to basically to save us money in the future as well as us to be able to have a ‘brand’ for many different things. I would also expect to continue the relationship with the winner to create additional images/text.
Charlie Bit My Finger – Again ! is the title of the video but it is more commonly know as ‘Charlie Bit Me’. We also own the domain ‘charliebitme.com’ so ‘Charlie Bit Me’ it is.
My Decision Making Process
My decision is going to be influenced by all of the below. The best result for us will be a combination of the requirements as well as the knowledge the designs will work for future projects. Harry and Charlie will be involved in the decision process.
Logo
Everything about the boys video and presence is driven by YouTube, the internet. Clean edges and cleaver shades would probably look best. The example logo which was supplied to us as part of a bid for business looks good but also looks unfinished. I also think the colours are a little pale. The example should NOT form the basis for your design but it does capture the fun, age, colours etc I would like to see. The logo will need to look good on any background
I do not know if just text or combination of text and image would work best. I hope I will know after seeing some designs. However I have been surprised how good many of the logos people design are. I think having a bite mark on something would be good, i.e. the Apple logo. On what, I do not know.
Should it be 2D, 3D, character, silhouette, picture, letters, 3D letters. I really do not know. I think the following points will help you decide which route to go.
Multiple Logos
I may find it makes sense to have two different logos based on the same theme, I personally think;
1) a logo encapsulating the boys and their YouTube presence
2) an image with the words Charlie Bit Me
3) a way of making an avatar (web 2.0 icon) from one of the above
It might well be the case that you can design one logo to meet all requirements – I will look forward to seeing the results.
Colours
Red, White and Blue. We are a family with 4 boys from the UK – blue makes sense. The current logo for reference looks pretty good, maybe a bit pale. I like the washed/aged effect on one of the sample flag image. The logo could feature the Union Flag as a background but with only the edges showing it. I think if the flag is used then I would like a flag effect showing movement. We are not afraid for this to look nationalistic. We are also proud to be Enlgish as well as British. Happy to be surprised.
What is the Logo for
I plan to have a simple logo I can use anywhere – Twitter side page, YouTube side page, stationary, t-shirt etc. Simple clear design without too many colours. If the web image has a few colours we also need a matching logo with three colours for easier reproduction to printed media. I am happy with both solutions. (This is a primary requirement)
Reproduce in many sizes
I also want the logo to work if reproduced at any size. For example used as an avatar or front of a t-shirt. As long as it is instantly recognisable as either. If we decided to go for a more elaborate t-shirt logo for example I would look to enhance what we have, i.e put in more detail or incorporate additional elements (This is a primary requirement)
If the boys were to have an iphone app I would be looking to use the logo to represent the app.
Additional considerations – more text
The logo needs to be extensible. By that I mean it needs to server its base purpose of a single brand but I need to be able to use it for other things. For example I may need to incorporate additional words underneath, to the side etc. Charlie Bit Me – the early years, Charlie Bit Me – Harry’s Vlog, Charlie Bit Me – Charlie’s Vlog
I do not need more than one example of extension, but it needs to also look good when extended. (This is a primary requirement)
The extension does not have to be in exactly the same logo font. However I would see it as something I would need to be able to do. I view myself as competent at this if I had a template and spend some time increasing my skills/knowledge.
I created a new YouTube Channel last night. HDCYTaskUS. Here is an example o extensible.
Interchangeable
I envisage having two ways of representing Charlie bit me. A picture as you currently see on our YouTube site and a logo. Being able to choose which one at the right time may be important. I am happy with the picture we have although it may benefit from some work to blend it or whatever else you guys do to make things look better. I would bear this in mind when trying to decide on what goes in the logo. If you can address both of these points all the better.
Adaptability
Should Harry and Charlie in the future want to do more on the internet they could go down this route or perhaps chose a new colour for the logo. I would like to know if Harry wanted to use a Green shade for example we could do this without starting from scratch.
More resources
We have lots of good quality photos of the boys. If you think you would like some or better quality images of the ones supplied I can arrange that.
Do a search on google images for ‘Charlie bit me’ and you will find more resources
Feedback
I believe in giving constructive feedback. I also believe in saying how I find it. You will get honest and un-watered down feedback.
What would not be cool
Representation of blood – there never was any
Representation that would infer piercing of skin – warewolves, vampires, pointed teeth etc
Focusing only on a finger
What has caught my attention
The YOUTube logo.
The Apple Logo
What you should take into account
A version of the logo/avatar needs to not look out of place around the icons such as Twitter, Blogger, Digg etc.
Iconic Representation
The screen shots from the video are used alot. However Google recently contacted us because they were modernising their life story video and wanted to use the boys clip. I would like in the future that a design studio would be equally happy to use our logo or a screen shot from the video.
Next Project
Our next project is going to be a cool website. The logo should be something that can be taken and extended to cool icons, buttons, frames for pictures etc. The website will probably be wordpress based and will start once the logo is complete.
Decision Criteria
I have no idea if this will help or if I will really keep to this but right now this is what I am thinking
Factor Evaluation Weight
Logo (logo and text) 35 (for only one 20)
Colours don’t expect this to be an issue
Reproduce in many sizes 25
More text 15
Adaptability 10
Fit for next project 15
These are very rough guides so please do not hold me too them. However at the time of writing this brief they are in line with my thinking.
I very much look forward to seeing the results.
Regards
Howard - HDCYT
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